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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25798036">you knew who I was with every step that I ran to you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterOfDungeonBat/pseuds/DaughterOfDungeonBat'>DaughterOfDungeonBat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adultery, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Banned Together Bingo, BannedTogether2020, Duke of Mandalore Obi-Wan, Fade to Black, Happy Infidelity, I got to exactly quote ROTS in this I loved it, Infidelity, M/M, One Shot, Sad Ending, Unhappy marriage, but Obi-Wan and Satine are married, codywan - Freeform, formatting this almost killed me, like so so far, not Satine friendly, not tagging as obitine because this is NOT obitine, so far removed from canon, this one really got away from me</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:00:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,293</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25798036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaughterOfDungeonBat/pseuds/DaughterOfDungeonBat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Obi-Wan Kenobi has a wife, and a child, and a neutral planetary system to rule.</p><p>Cody is a Marshal Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic, created to fight Separatists and serve the Jedi.</p><p>They both should know better than to play the game they find themselves caught in.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>81</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Banned Together Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you knew who I was with every step that I ran to you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this story was supposed to be around 2000 words. As you can see, it is... Not.<br/>I actually got pretty emotionally invested in this, and I hope you like it. It's for the happy infidelity prompt for banned together bingo 2020, which was the prompt I was most worried about filling, as I think cheating is about the worst thing you can do. Thanks to TheSlimeAndTheMud for the idea, title, and beta reading, and itsnotmaybelene for beta reading!.<br/>Background on this AU- the 212th is with Adi Gallia, who in this was Anakin's master, because Obi-Wan left the order before being knighted.</p><p>Songs to listen to while reading:<br/>Adored by Him- Dodie<br/>Someone- Hozier<br/>Emerald Star- Lord Huron</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It would have been better for everyone if Dooku had just picked a different planet to hide out on than Iridonia. Then the Republic would not have been forced to send battalions to stake out the various planets in surrounding space, and Adi Gallia would not have been ordered to station the 212th in a neutral system.<br/>
<br/>
<i> “I don’t care what your Jedi leaders have ordered you to do- Mandalore is neutral, and will not be a site of this war!” </i> said the flickering blue image of the woman currently staring down General Gallia in a way that did not seem very pacifistic in Cody’s opinion. The picture wasn’t very clear from where Cody was standing, but there was a woman doing most of the talking, a man at her side, and a boy who looked about the age of Skywalker’s padawan.<br/>
<br/>
“Once again Duchess-“ General Gallia said. She was holding her cool better than most would upon having to repeat herself for a third time. “Positioning my troops within your system was not my choice, but I will not disobey my superiors and risk allowing Count Dooku to escape. Perhaps if we could continue these negotiations in person we could come to some sort of agreement, but right now, the 212th attack battalion of the GAR will not be going anywhere.”<br/>
<br/>
Cody smirked behind his helmet as the Duchess was struck silent for the first time.<br/>
<br/>
The sound from the holocall suddenly cut out, but the conversation between the Duke and Duchess could still be followed by the turn of the Prince’s head from one to the other. All was still for a few seconds, and the sound clicked back on just before Cody suggested testing the connection.<br/>
<br/>
<i> “Your terms are acceptable. The Duke will meet you outside of the city of Sundari and stay with you and your soldiers until you are able to leave our planet to ensure that no harm comes to our way of life.” </i><br/>
<br/>
“Of course. The Republic thanks you for your-“<br/>
<br/>
The holocall flicked off.<br/>
<br/>
“…cooperation.”<br/>
<br/>
Cody let out a long, low breath.<br/>
<br/>
“Well General, I hope Dooku makes a move soon. Last thing we want is to babysit some spoiled politician until the war ends.”<br/>
<br/>
The next day, General Gallia made the journey to Sundari. Cody had insisted that he accompany her, but she insisted that he remain with the rest of the troops.<br/>
<br/>
“Soldiers of the 212th, I present the Duke of Mandalore, Obi-Wan Kenobi!”<br/>
<br/>
Commander Cody snapped to attention along with his men at General Gallia’s voice. Reed muttered something about her being back earlier than anticipated, but before Cody could turn to reprimand him-<br/>
<br/>
“Adi, please, I don’t need some grand announcement. I’m sure your men are disappointed enough to have me here without making a scene.”<br/>
<br/>
<i>Oh. </i><br/>
<br/>
The man walking with General Gallia was tall and clean-shaven, with neat auburn hair and intelligent blue eyes. Though his clothes were fine blue and white, Duke Obi-Wan Kenobi was certainly not built like a politician. He was just as pale as the Duchess, but he looked like a warrior.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Well, that’s not exactly what I was expecting. </i><br/>
<br/>
“You must be Commander Cody.” Duke Obi-Wan Kenobi said, shaking Cody’s hand firmly. The Duke’s hand was calloused, but not from holding a blaster. “Master Gallia has told me that you’re a very skilled leader. I apologize for invading your camp for the foreseeable future, but I hope to stay out of your way.”<br/>
<br/>
Cody desperately wished that he had been wearing his helmet. If he had been, he would have been able to spare more than half a glance at General Gallia’s amused smile.<br/>
<br/>
“Right. Should I show his Majesty around, General?” Cody asked, and the Duke grimaced. General Gallia nodded and told the Duke that they would continue their previous conversation over dinner.<br/>
<br/>
“I’ve told Master Gallia this already,” The Duke said as Cody led him along the eastern perimeter of the small city of tents. “but I would much prefer you to just call me Obi-Wan.”<br/>
<br/>
“So the General is ‘Master Gallia,’ but you’re not ‘His Ducal Majesty?’”<br/>
<br/>
The Duke frowned again.<br/>
<br/>
“She has earned the title of Master Jedi, I married into politics. I would say that there is a difference, wouldn’t you?”<br/>
<br/>
The Duke gave Cody a wry smile, and the commander swallowed hard and continued with the tour of their little tent city in the open field. His training hadn’t included how to interact with less-pompous-than-expected nobility.<br/>
<br/>
When Cody was able to hand him off to General Gallia again, he nearly sighed aloud with relief.<br/>
<br/>
He took Crys’ evening patrol to work off some of his nerves. Alone at the tree line, Cody wondered how long Dooku could possibly wait in hiding.</p><p>He hoped it wouldn’t be long as he continued his perimeter check, then went to inform General Gallia.</p><p>Cody pushed through the flaps of the smaller supply tent where his General usually took her nightly meal, already rattling off the large animal tracks that he had found on his evening patrol, when the words caught in his throat. Inside the tent, at the small table the 212th usually used for tactical planning and games of sabacc, sat the General and the Duke of Mandalore, each with a ration bar in one hand and a glass of deep red liquid in the other.</p><p>“And then Satine…” the Duke stopped, the glass halfway to his smiling mouth, when he saw Cody. “Oh. Hello there. Do you two need to speak privately?”</p><p>“Sit, Cody.” General Gallia said before Cody could find an excuse to get away, pushing another glass towards him as the Duke filled it from a wine bottle.</p><p>“Red wine, from grapes grown on Concord Dawn.” He said as Cody reluctantly sat and picked up the glass. “Covers the taste of the ration bars pretty well, since it seems like they haven’t improved much since Satine and I were out here with Qui-Gon and were forced to subsist on them.”</p><p>Satine, Cody knew, was the name of the Mandalorian Duchess and, obviously, the Duke’s wife. Qui-Gon, though… that was a name that Cody had heard from several Jedi, but he couldn’t imagine why a Mandalorian Duke would know a Master Jedi who had been dead for well over a decade. Probably just a common name in the midrim.</p><p>The Duke went back to his story, something about his wife accidentally revealing the extramarital affair of a visiting noble from Ryloth and nearly causing an interplanetary incident, and Cody risked a sip of the wine.</p><p>It was certainly not as rancid as the rotgut that Longshot brewed in a bucket, but not something that he would have picked for himself. Sweet and fruity, but clearly not alcoholic enough to make it worth the taste.</p><p>Gallia started to respond to the Duke’s story, but the shrill sound of her comm interrupted her.</p><p><i> “Master Gallia!”</i> Skywalker’s frantic voice came through loud and clear, <i> “We’ve got a situation!”</i></p><p><i> “And by situation he means-“</i> Padawan Tano’s response was cut off by a staticky explosion.</p><p>“I have to take this.” Gallia said, darting from her chair and out of the tent as more indistinguishable noise filtered through the comm unit.</p><p>The silence that filled the space was nearly deafening. Cody knew he shouldn’t ask a Duke of a non-republic system prying questions.</p><p>“So, you and General Gallia know each other?” He asked anyway. The Duke’s eyes widened for a moment, his brows drawing close as he took a long drink from his nearly empty glass. He refilled it without hesitation, hardly looking up from the bottle.</p><p>“We, ah, knew one another as children. Grew up together, really.”</p><p>“The General is Mandalorian?” Cody said without thinking. From the interactions he had had with the template, she didn’t seem at all like the warriors who had been exiled by the Duchess, or like the politicians of ‘new’ Mandalore.</p><p>For the first time, the Duke actually looked almost sheepish, but he hid it quickly with a small smile into his wine glass.</p><p>“No, I was actually raised in the temple.” He said quietly, almost to himself, then looked back up at Cody with a spark in his eyes that the commander hadn’t seen from him before. “I was a Jedi, actually. A senior padawan when I left.”</p><p>Cody nearly choked on his wine. He didn’t know Jedi could just… quit, like it was a job fixing astromechs. He couldn’t even imagine what would make someone walk away from being a Jedi, especially before the war.</p><p>“Why did you?” he asked, before he considered that no, he shouldn’t be prying into the personal life of the visiting politician, but the Duke’s face lit up before Cody could back-track and slid his chair closer to Cody’s side. He dug out a datapad from his pocket, unlocking it with a password longer than the security codes used to lock up the ships at night.</p><p>“Because of him,” he said, flipping quickly through several pictures of a red-haired kid. “My Korkie.” It took Cody longer than it probably should have to realize that the teenager was the Ducal Prince, but in his defense, the boy smiling in a school uniform was a far-cry from the uneasy young man in a flickering holocall. “Jedi can’t have children, so I left to raise him. And to be with his mother.”</p><p>“So the Qui-Gon you mentioned…”</p><p>The Duke’s expression darkened for a moment as he slipped the datapad back into his pocket, before settling on a sad smile.</p><p>“He was my master. Our last mission together brought us to Mandalore to protect the young Duchess, and the rest is history.”</p><p>Cody couldn’t help his bark of disbelieving laughter.</p><p>“What, love at first sight? Saw a pretty girl and quit on the spot?”</p><p>The Duke nearly choked on his wine.</p><p>“Hey!” He said, mock offended, “It wasn’t like that, we spent an entire year on the run!”</p><p>“Sorry men.” Gallia said, pushing back through the tent flaps as Kenobi slid back to his previous spot. “Skywalker and Tano will put me into an early pyre, mark my words.”</p><p>“What was it this time?” Cody asked as Gallia sat heavily back into her chair. Kenobi pushed her wine glass back towards her. She took a long drink, then made a face as she swallowed.</p><p>“The pair of them managed to punch a hole in their hyperdrive in orbit. I thought him being knighted would have stopped this.” General Gallia sighed again, glancing at the time on her datapad. “Well you two, I think we should all get some rest. We need to be rested- Dooku could make a move any time and we need to be ready.”</p><p>Kenobi scoffed and drained the rest of his wine as Cody stood to leave without argument.</p><p>“You sound as though you’re hoping something happens.” He heard the Kenobi laugh as he left the supply tent to head to his own bunk. “I would almost think that you want to be rid of me!”</p><p>As Reed snored and Aid fiddled with his datapad in the dark of their tent, Cody was haunted by blue eyes as he tried to sleep.</p><p>He blamed the rolling of his stomach on the wine.</p><p>The next morning found Cody groggy and grumpy, and hoping not to see their distinguished guest. For the most part, he was lucky enough to avoid Kenobi for the next few days. They saw one another, of course, but they only rarely were completely alone.</p><p>And then Kenobi started joining him on his evening patrols.</p><p>It wasn’t unpleasant, exactly. Kenobi was a decent enough conversationalist, but Cody still couldn’t help bristling around him like he did when he sensed a threat.</p><p>The whole mess did not come to a head until the fifth night, when Cody saw a flash of movement in the underbrush while Kenobi was telling some story about General Gallia sneaking into the archives as a youngling. Perhaps it was the source of the tracks they had seen earlier?</p><p>“Stay here.” Cody said, readying his blaster. He didn’t need Kenobi stumbling around in the woods with him- it was dark enough in the open, without the thick branches blocking even more light.</p><p>“Hardly.” Kenobi said, following a step behind. Cody bit back a swear.</p><p>Despite his misgivings, Kenobi was able to keep pace, even as they cut through the rough underbrush into a small clearing. There was no sign of whatever had made the tracks, and the light was failing fast.</p><p>There was the sound of branches snapping, and Cody did swear, this time.</p><p>They were being circled, and they had placed themselves in the perfect spot to be pounced on.</p><p>A lightsaber ignited.</p><p>For a moment, Cody felt foolish for mistaking his General for some wild animal, but when he looked over his shoulder, an apology to Gallia on his lips-</p><p>Kenobi was bathed in brilliant blue light from the lightsaber he held over his head, inches from his brow. His face was set in a focused scowl, and he was poised to strike like a snake.</p><p>He moved like lightning, swinging the lightsaber at the thick foliage. Whatever had been stalking them made a mad dash in the opposite direction, crashing loudly through the underbrush.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Kenobi said, turning on his heel. He did not move from his defensive stance, or even look at Cody, which was probably for the best, lest he see the clone commander staring openly.</p><p>The hard lines of Kenobi’s jaw were even sharper in the warm blue light of the saber, and his eyes were alight with a fire that Cody had learned to associate with Jedi knights, but had never before found so deeply, utterly beautiful.</p><p>“You really were a Jedi.” Cody said, instead of any of the other thoughts running through his head. Kenobi turned towards him, a sideways smile turning his mouth that drew Cody’s eyes.</p><p>“You thought that I had lied?” He extinguished his saber, turning it in his hand and clipping it back to his belt. “What a foolish thing to lie about.”</p><p>Cody pointedly looked away.</p><p>“Commander Cody? Are you alright?”</p><p>By all logic, the duriplast of Cody’s armor should have stopped the heat of Kenobi’s hand on his shoulder.</p><p>The two men locked eyes, and Cody was suddenly sure that Kenobi knew how that hand burned. Someone smiled, someone swallowed hard.</p><p>The Duke’s tent was much cleaner than Cody had been expecting. The bed was made, and all of Kenobi’s personal affects seemed to be packed away in the bag that he had arrived with.</p><p>It was, most likely, not what Cody should have been noticing, when he was sat on the edge of said well-made bunk with a Mandalorian nobleman in his lap trying to claw his armor off. Well, what little armor was not currently cluttering the floor.</p><p>“We can’t do this.” Cody said against Kenobi’s lips. “You can’t do this. You have a wife.”</p><p>“And a son.” he breathed in reply when he came up for air, one hand working deftly a Cody’s belt while he pulled sharply on the collar of Cody’s shirt with the other.</p><p>“That doesn’t make it better.” Cody said, but tilted his head to kiss Kenobi again. “That’s so much worse.”</p><p>Obi-Wan pulled back just enough to look Cody in the eye, his lips pink and hair mussed and his blue eyes glowing in the low light falling in golden streaks from the tent flap.</p><p>“Do you want to stop? I’ll go back to my tent, no one will ever hear of this again.” Obi-Wan said, cupping Cody’s jaw so softly that it almost hurt. Cody’s heart jumped in his chest.</p><p>“But the Duchess-“</p><p>“Doesn’t make me feel like I do with you.”</p><p>The hunger in Obi-Wan’s eyes, the raw emotion in his voice, and the last shreds of Cody’s resolve dissolved like paper in a Kaminoan storm.</p><p>Cody was not sure when they finally fell asleep, sweaty in the humid night air, only that he had never felt so safe next to someone who wasn’t one of his brothers.</p><p>If there was anything good about being stationed on a developed planet, Cody thought to himself as he slowly woke up rather than being roused by blaster fire, it was getting to sleep until after the sun started to rise.</p><p>A grumble rose from beside him as sunlight cut through the flap in the Duke’s tent, and Cody very nearly added another positive point to that list.</p><p>The Duke, Obi-Wan, now, was beautiful. He was laying on his stomach, his head resting on one curled arm. His back was all pale angles and lean muscles, and one eye was half open and blinking lazily at Cody.</p><p>The Commander was sure that he would have been content to stay in that bed forever, until a cold coil of guilt pinched his stomach. He had no right to see Obi-Wan like this.</p><p>“You’ve got a wife and a child.” Cody said, knowing even as the words left his lips that he was making a mistake. Obi-Wan seemed to wake up a fraction more.</p><p>“You mentioned earlier.”</p><p>“Then why are we doing this? Why are you doing this?”</p><p>“It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand.” Obi-Wan said, rolling to turn his back to Cody, who felt his expression darken against his will.</p><p>“I think you owe me enough to at least tell me.” Cody said, gesturing at the thin sheet covering their bare forms. Obi-Wan looked as though he was about to argue, then set his jaw and rolled onto his back.</p><p>And then Obi-Wan started talking, rambling, without stopping. Talked about a Jedi in training protecting a young Duchess for an entire year. A clumsy romance between two teenagers running for their lives that went farther than it ever should have. A grand coronation, a Jedi released from his vows, a rushed wedding, and a baby born six months later to parents barely eighteen with no idea how to be together in the open air.</p><p>Obi-Wan stumbled then, and Cody had the sudden feeling that he could have gotten up to leave without being noticed.</p><p>“It got hard.” Obi-Wan said, then almost laughed. “Of course it was hard, we were running a planet that had nearly torn itself asunder and my only skills were basic lightsaber forms and making things float.” Cody didn’t add that those both sounding like extremely useful skills, but he kept his mouth shut as Obi-Wan kept talking.</p><p>From what Cody could gather between repetitions, double-backs, and outright missing details, the war had put even more strain on a relationship built on unsteady foundations as the Duchess’s strict, moral pacifism clashed with the harsh reality of the situation at hand.</p><p>“We talk about politics, we talk about Korkie, and we argue.” Obi-Wan said quietly, staring up at the ceiling of the tent. “You wanted to know why I’m cheating on my wife, and that’s why.” He glanced at Cody, the silent <i>happy now? </i> as clear as day. “If you want to pretend that this never happened, I’ll understand. I won’t say anything to Adi.”</p><p>Cody didn’t bother pointing out that the General had almost certainly seen them going alone to the Duke’s tent, and instead just gathered his uniform blacks from where they had been strewn around the tent the previous night and dressed quickly. General Gallia would likely want to speak to him, and then he would have to make sure his men’s orders were up-to-date. Just before ducking through the tent flaps into the camp, Cody turned back towards the bed with a lazy smile.</p><p>“Your Highness-“ the Duke looked up at him quickly, looking surprised at the formal title. Cody coughed. “Um, Obi-Wan. Do you want to come with me on my patrol tonight?”</p><p>Obi-Wan’s smile when he agreed got Cody through the rest of the day, even as his brothers aimed all their knowing looks and crude comments his way.</p><p>He had never looked forward to an evening patrol so much, and barely kept himself from jogging to Obi-Wan’s side when the sun had sunk low enough to take their lap around the camp.</p><p>“So I thought of something earlier.” Cody said as they neared the small lake on the outskirts of the field the 212th had staked out.</p><p>“Oh?” Obi-Wan said. He clearly wasn’t entirely listening, as he was focused on kicking a pebble into the water.</p><p>“You were eighteen when your son was born. How old is he now?” That caught Obi-Wan’s attention, and he looked up in confusion.</p><p>“He’ll be sixteen this year.”</p><p>Cody hummed.</p><p>“Then you need to stop shaving.”</p><p>Obi-Wan heaved a laugh, bending at the waist.</p><p>“I’m sorry, what has possibly led you to that conclusion?”</p><p>“Well sir,” Cody said, holding the posture of the perfect soldier, “Unless my math is wrong, and I’ll be the first to admit that we clones aren’t the best at ages in natborns, that would make you thirty-four, but you look about twelve.”</p><p>Obi-Wan froze, head cocked and mouth half open. He blinked twice, then coughed.</p><p>“Excuse me?” He said, incredulous. Cody just shrugged. Obi-Wan blinked again, rubbing at his chin and looking out over the water as it blazed with the sunset.</p><p>“Satine likes it. Says I look more professional.” He said quietly, and Cody bit hard on the inside of his cheek. He should have assumed as much, that the woman he had married would have more to do with his appearance than… than whatever Cody was.</p><p>“I’ll keep it in mind, though.” Obi-Wan said, breaking the sudden silence. “Thank you, Cody.”</p><p>And Obi-Wan smiled, and Cody smiled back. They finished their patrol, and Cody did not return to his bunk.</p><p>Over the next three weeks, his brothers began using the empty bed as additional storage.</p><p>Cody had expected this affair to end when General Gallia raised the alarm that Dooku had moved. He wasn’t a fool, no matter what this situation might suggest to the contrary.</p><p>He wasn’t expecting the sound of landspeeders, and Aid hitting the outside of the tent with his blaster.</p><p>“Mandalorians!” He shouted, and Obi-Wan swore loudly, almost falling out of the bed. He dressed quickly and threw what belongings weren’t already put away into his bag.</p><p>“It’s Satine.” Obi-Wan said, his voice frantic. He and Cody locked eyes, and the world stood still for a few long moments.</p><p>The kiss was an ending, and they both knew it. It was filled with an apology, and words that could not be said.</p><p>Obi-Wan ran out of the tent just as Cody was pulling on his helmet and the last of his armor. He would stand beside his general like a good soldier, no different from any of his brothers, as the nobility of Mandalore said their pretty words and went back to their gilded palace. This had always been temporary, and they had both known it.</p><p>But then his eye caught on something under the bed, and Cody cursed Obi-Wan’s name.</p><p>He reached the gathering crowd just in time to see the Duchess, frighteningly more delicate than anything that Cody had ever seen as a soldier, place a thin hand on Obi-Wan’s cheek.</p><p>“You are needed back in Sundari, my dear.” She said, linking her arm with Obi-Wan’s. Had it not been such an automatic and artificial display of affection, Cody might have felt guilty for interrupting it.</p><p>“Your Majesty.” He said, stepping towards the pair. Immediately, two sets of blue eyes fixed on him; one cold, one panicked. Cody was immensely grateful for his helmet as he passed the cloth-wrapped bundle under his arm to Obi-Wan. To the Duke.</p><p>“I think you’ll be needing this.”</p><p>Obi-Wan’s eyes lit with recognition, and then gratitude. He nodded at Cody as he tucked his hidden lightsaber under his arm, both pretending that their hands hadn’t brushed, that they hadn’t slept in each other’s arms.</p><p>“Thank you, Cody.” He said, just a bit too quietly, then turned back to the Duchess. “Now, let’s get a move on.”</p><p>The Ducal pair left without ceremony, and Cody moved back to his bunk that night.</p><p>He ignored the pitying looks from his brothers and General until they left Mandalore a few weeks later, when it seemed that all but Cody had forgotten about the brief affair.</p><p>~</p><p>The war ended without any of the drama it had started with, for the clones at least. Chancellor Palpatine, apparently a Sith lord playing both sides, was killed unceremoniously by Count Dooku, who was now rotting in a cell under the Jedi temple.</p><p>Chancellor Mothma had arranged for all of the clone troopers to have the chips in their heads removed, and housing for them on Coruscant until they found other places to live. Most of the troopers guessed that the Republic would feel too guilty about the whole situation to ever actually ask them to leave, even if they never found work. They had already contributed more than most.</p><p>The man who had once been Commander Cody of the Galactic Army of the Republic, but who was now just Cody, watched Mandalore join the Republic on the holonet in his apartment. Despite everything, despite his own expectations, he had survived to see the end of his usefulness.</p><p>The Duchess Satine signed her name quickly, a furrow in her brow and dozens of Mandalorian lilies braided into her hair, and rejoined her family to speak to her people.</p><p>The Ducal Prince, with his hair slicked back and the mark of his ranking as cadet pinned at his collar.</p><p>And the Duke, a lily at his lapel and his beard neatly trimmed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>.....I warned you this one wasn't happy.</p><p>please comment! This is the longest fanfiction I have ever written, and I would love to know what everyone thinks! Sorry for any grammatical errors, a ten page, single spaced document is a beast to edit!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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